This invention relates to an asphalt patching device, and specifically a device operable by a single person, with or without the need for a support vehicle driver.
Various attempts have been made to reduce the labor incident to patching asphalt roadways. More so than concrete roads, asphalt roads are susceptible to having "potholes", cracks, washboarding, etc., and other surface discontinuities, formed therein which require periodic maintenance to maintain a relatively smooth road bed. Typically, a dump truck having a dump truck driver and three or four other individuals, one or two for dispersing asphalt from the dump truck, and one or two for distributing the asphalt in the proper location, as well as possibly an additional individual to tamp or roll the asphalt patch, are required to make asphalt patches. Because labor costs are the predominant expense in patching such discontinuities, it would be desirable to have an apparatus which could eliminate many or most of these laborers.
Accordingly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,949 proposed a motorized vehicle designed for one-man operation for the patching of asphalt roadways. This device comprises a wheeled frame having a cab, a supply hopper for holding asphalt, an auger to distribute asphalt to a feed bucket which is mounted on an articulated arm. The feed bucket includes a tamper to tamp down to a job site. After arriving at the job site, the aggregate and liquid asphalt cement are mixed and delivered to the roadbed. Filler materials are carried in a separate container and added to the mixture before it is applied. While not particularly relevant to the patching of roadways with asphalt, U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,408 discloses means for delivering and applying crushed rock in measured amounts to a shoulder of a roadway.
Because only the first of the forgoing devices actually addresses the manpower needs of city, county or state road departments, albeit in a prohibitively expensive manner, it is an object of the present invention to provide an affordable, easily operable asphalt patching device which may be operated by a single individual.